My Best Friend
by Eighteen Inches
Summary: Various unconnected oneshots/drabbles of Harry and Hermione's friendship. i: Harry makes a promise to Hermione.


AN: Written for the 'Favorite Friendship Boot Camp Challenge,' the 'Non-romantic love competition,' and the 'Friendship Competition," on HPFC.

Disclaimer: It's not mine, ob—vious—ly

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Promise

Hermione lay on her back on the large, comfy bed that stood just underneath the window, in one of the extra bedrooms of Shell cottage. She was exhausted from the day that she'd had. As if being tortured wasn't bad enough, she also had a chandelier fall on her, according to Ron. She couldn't help but worry about what might happened if Harry and Ron hadn't gotten to her in time. Would she be dead?

_No! _She yelled at herself mentally. She couldn't afford to think like that. Not with everything that was happening in the Wizarding World. She had to stay strong, and keep her emotions in check if she were to concentrate on what needed to be done. But, they were just a few injuries. That was to be expected for being on the run at a time like this. She knew what she was getting into when she agreed to go with Harry.

A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. She closed her eyes for a moment; she really didn't want people bothering her right now. But, she figured, if she got it over with, maybe they'd go away.

"Come in," she was barely audible. She could hardly talk anymore since being tortured. She was too weak and just didn't care to speak much louder than a whisper.

She heard the door open, footsteps as someone came into the room and the door closing.

"Hermione, are you alright?" a familiar voice asked.

Hermione turned her gaze from the window to stare at Harry, she shook her head. "Does it look like I'm okay?"

Harry walked closer to her, "Alright, so maybe that was a stupid question."

Hermione shook her head, "No, it was just a question with an obvious answer." She turned back to look out the window at the waves crashing on the shore below. She pushed herself to sit up in a sitting position, against the pain that she felt in her lower back. She reached over and pushed the window open to allow the salty sea air to enter the room, and her lungs. The smell was sweet and relaxing to her. She sighed in content as her muscles slowly started loosening.

"It's just been a long day," Hermione said, after a while. She crawled down the end of the bed to be closer to the window. She watched as a seagull flying overhead outside. She felt the bed sag a little as Harry sat down beside her. She felt Harry placed his hands on both of her shoulders. "I wish it hadn't happened, though."

"Things that we don't like happen and sometimes we just have to deal with them," Harry told her, he sighed, heavily. "No matter how much we wish we didn't."

Hermione nodded, "I know…I just hate it."

"I promise you, I'll never let anyone else hurt you." Harry said, firmly. He started massaging her shoulders.

Hermione gave a small smile, "And I love you for that Harry; how you're always here for me if I need you…You're the best friend a person could have."

"I say the same thing about you, Hermione." Harry replied, "If it weren't for you, I don't know if I'd even be standing here today."

"And if it wasn't for you and Ron, I would probably be dead because of Bellatrix," Hermione said.

A comfortable moment of silence passed between the two of them before Harry decided to break it, "You know, we shouldn't dwell on the what ifs…it's not going to get us anywhere. And right now, we should be focusing on the future." A moment of silence passed before he spoke again, "I've come to realize that the past is the past, you can't change it…If you could, maybe, just maybe, Sirius and Dobby wouldn't be dead…It's not good to dwell over something that you can't change."

Hermione nodded in agreement, "You're right."

"And if I have to, I'll kill Bellatrix myself," Harry stated. Hermione could hear the anger in his voice and knew he was serious.

"Don't do anything you'll regret, Harry."

"After what she did to you, she deserves it," Harry stated, letting his hands fall from her shoulders, clenching his fist.

Hermione glanced over at him and saw that his knuckles were slowly turning white. She reached out and placed a comforting hand on his, massaging his hands, until he slowly unclenched his hands.

"Harry, don't stress over this," Hermione told him as his hand slowly started gaining color.

"I can't help it, Hermione," Harry replied, "what Bellatrix did to you, while I was stuck in that cellar, not able to help you..." he shook his head, "I'll never forgive myself."

"You can't blame yourself for something that you had no control over." Hermione tried to comfort him.

Harry turned his attention from Hermione to look out the window at the crashing waves, "Hermione, _I'm_ the one who said _his_ name and got the snatchers to show up…if it weren't for me, none of us would've been anywhere near Malfoy Manor."

"Like you said, Harry, we should be focusing on the future."

"I just can't help but hate myself over this."

Hermione shook her head, "It's _not_ your fault, Harry. No matter how much you think it is, it's not. You didn't force Bellatrix to torture me, or carve the _word_ into my inner arm, so don't take the blame for it."

Harry sighed, "It'll take me a while to get over it…"

"It's going to take all of us a while to get over it, especially me…And I appreciate everything you'd do for me."

"You're one of my best friends, Hermione," Harry told her, "I'd go to the ends of the Earth for you. I love you; you're like the sister I never had."

Hermione smiled, "Thank you. And I was about to say the same thing about you."

"I'm the sister you never had?" Harry asked.

"No," Hermione replied, playfully shoving him, "You're like the brother I never had…You know things about me that others don't, and we've been through so much together. Not very many people would understand the type of connection that we have; not even Ron, actually."

Harry nodded, "That's right." He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

Hermione rested her head against his shoulder, "I don't know what I'd do without you, Harry."

Harry rubbed soothing circles on her back, "It's a good thing we have each other, otherwise, I don't think we'd be here today."

"They say the past defines who you are," Hermione murmured against his shoulder, "and everything that's happened to us must have been for a reason. Those things have made us who we are today, and I don't think I would change that."

Harry nodded in agreement.

Hermione was slowly starting to feel sleepy and her eyelids became heavier and heavier. She tried to fight it, because she didn't want to have to face the nightmares, she knew would come. She didn't want to relive her torture; she knew she would if she closed her eyes. But, with the soothing sounds of the waves and the cool breeze, she couldn't fight it for very long. And with Harry's promise that he'd never let anyone else hurt her, she felt safe and secure enough for sleep that she most desperately would need.

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AN: Well, there you are(: I just love the brotherly, sisterly love these two have. They really care about each other, and no, they're not in love, nor will they ever be. They are friends, nothing more.

Thanks for reading(: I hope you enjoyed it. So, leave a review maybe?


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